Missouri’s young children now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) —  Children ages 5 to 11 now are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines in Missouri. The state health department on Wednesday announced it’s adopting the same recommendations for pediatric vaccination as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Federal health authorities gave the final go-ahead Tuesday for a vaccine made by Pfizer for younger children. Missouri health department spokeswoman Lisa Cox says the state has 116,100 initial doses of the pediatric coronavirus vaccine. That’s enough for roughly 22% of the state’s more than 533,000 newly eligible children.